PITTSFIELD — Pittsfield revenues swelled by $20 Monday when Don Hallenbeck, 37, pleaded guilty to riding his bicycle on Main Street sidewalks and paid a fine to the town in Skowhegan District Court.
He also paid $2 in court fees.
Hallenbeck was the first, and to date the only, violator of an old ordinance that town officials decided to enforce this summer. After receiving complaints from Main Street businesses and several pedestrians, the council ordered the police chief to crack down on sidewalk bikers. The sidewalks of Main Street, Park Street and several other streets were prohibited to anyone riding a bicycle. Bikes may be walked, however.
Hallenbeck was charged with violating the sidewalk ordinance last August. He originally pleaded not guilty, but changed his plea this Monday “to get out from under this.”
The Pittsfield cyclist said he still felt the ordinance was unrealistic and unfair. “There has to be a better way,” said Hallenbeck, who from the first announcement last summer said he would not abide by the rule banning riders from the sidewalk.
The ordinance was well-publicized prior to the reinforcement actions, and Hallenbeck himself was a regular attendee at council meetings where many discussions of the ordinance were held. Main Street merchants and pedestrians had come before the Town Council to discuss problems with cyclists on the walkways.
Those who routinely attend town meetings know Hallenbeck as a front-row spectator at all council meetings, a member of several town committees, and president of the Pittsfield Historical Society. He listened and disagreed as debate on the ordinance was conducted at recent council meetings, and he repeatedly said that he would continue to ride on the Main Street sidewalks as he traveled from his West Branch Terrace home to the public library because it was not safe to ride in the street.
Since he was charged, Hallenbeck has altered his daily route to the library, biking down Middle or Central streets instead of taking Main Street. “I thought I had better keep a low profile,” he said recently. Hallenbeck also stopped attending council meetings pending the court decision.
On Monday, he said he would attend the next council meeting “to give the council my views on the issue.”
Hallenbeck suggested a bike rodeo, similar to those conducted in the 1960s, to educate youngsters and adults “about the rules of the road.” He said that safety training and bike inspections could be combined for an adequate program for cyclists.
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